Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes

Sarah's love of food led her down what she calls "the culinary rabbit hole," leaving her management job to first apprentice on an organic vegetable farm and then to write about and photograph food professionally. Her agricultural backgro...

Sweet heat!

If there is any taste combination that can outrank sweet and salty, it's sweet and spicy. Sweet potatoes prove to be a match for chipotle peppers in this addictive side dish.

Sweet potatoes just might be my favorite food. I eat them plain, in soups and as gnocchi — and the list goes on. When I'm craving dessert but want to keep it healthy, I smear a roasted sweet potato with almond butter and sprinkle it with cinnamon. The almond butter is like a frosting on top of a sweet potato cake!

I do wish there were more savory sweet potato recipes out there, though. I love my sweet potato dessert, but as a side dish, I think the vegetable is sweet enough on its own, meaning it can take on other strong flavors without fading into the background. In this recipe, for example, chipotle peppers in adobo add a spicy, smoky kick that matches but doesn't overshadow the sweet potato's flavor.

Everyone seems to have their preference for how to best cook sweet potatoes. Some like to boil them and others choose to steam them, but I always roast them. The skin keeps in all the sweetness, and they slowly caramelize until sticky sap seeps out.

Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium sweet potatoes)

4 tablespoons butter

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup finely copped chives (optional but really good!)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Rinse and dry the sweet potatoes and place them on a baking sheet. Bake until tender all the way through and beginning to seep, for about one hour.

Once they're cool enough to handle, peel the sweet potatoes and move the cooked flesh to a large bowl. Add the butter, chipotle peppers and salt and then mash the sweet potatoes until they are mostly smooth, the butter is melted and the chipotle peppers are incorporated. Stir in the chives if using them. Serve warm.